Hagan greets Obama: The politics of a photo op in North Carolina

Will a photo of Sen. Kay Hagan greeting President Obama doom her bid for a second term?

Charlie Crist, who is running for Florida governor as a Democrat, knows from experience how hugging Obama means grief at the ballot box. So the Republican National Committee wasted no time sharing a frame grab of Obama embracing the North Carolina Democrat upon his arrival Tuesday in Charlotte.

Hagan made sure to criticize Obama ahead of his speech to the American Legion on veterans issues and let the organization know she’s not happy with the commander in chief. “I have told the president that promises alone aren’t going to get it done,” she said in her remarks to the American Legion.

The politics of North Carolina in a Senate race that could be decisive in determining majority control are easy to grasp. Obama won North Carolina in 2008, when Hagan was first elected, but lost it to Mitt Romney by about 92,000 votes in 2012.

A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll released last week essentially shows a tie in the North Carolina Senate race. While support for Obama has slipped in many states since his re-election, Hagan’s 41% job-approval rating is lower than the 45% for Obama.

Daniel Keylin, a spokesman for the Tillis campaign, said the issue is not about photos with Obama. Hagan, he said, “has rubber-stamped his partisan liberal agenda.” Her campaign charges Tillis hasn’t done enough to help North Carolina’s veterans and middle class.

Asked whether Obama will be a drag on Hagan, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said: “The president over the last two elections has outperformed expectations in North Carolina.”

The photo from today that probably won’t get featured much in campaign ads shows Hagan wasn’t alone in greeting Obama on what was an official White House visit. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., was also there, along with Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald and Charlotte Mayor Dan Clodfelter, a Democrat.

“I’m sure she was in a no-win situation,” said Kenneth Fernandez, an assistant professor at Elon University. “When the president comes, you have to greet him and you have to play ball.”